“Roy’s an intelligent guy. I saw him reading some interesting books. He’s a good conversationalist and good company when he is in the right mood. The Physio would come in and ask ‘what kind of mood is Roy in today?’ because that would determine the whole mood of the dressing room.

“With his contradictions and mood swings he could be wonderful one minute and antagonistic the next. The switch would flick in a moment.

“I think the dressing room relaxed after Roy left. Relief swept the room. They no longer had to listen to the barrage that some of them had grown to expect. “

What is true is in the three full seasons after Keane left the club, United won the Premier League title after failing to reclaim the crown in the final three seasons he was at the club. Did the psychology of Manchester United change positively the day Roy Keane left the club under acrimonious circumstances? It’s tough to know for sure, but it certainly appears that way. Perhaps Keane’s grudge is actually that the club survived and even thrived without him?

About The Author

A lifelong lover of soccer, the beautiful game, he served from January 2010 until May 2013 as the Director of Communications and Public Relations for the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Raised on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the old NASL, Krishnaiyer previously hosted the American Soccer Show on the Champions Soccer Radio Network, the Major League Soccer Talk podcast and the EPL Talk Podcast.
His soccer writing has been featured by several media outlets including The Guardian and The Telegraph. He is the author of the book Blue With Envy about Manchester City FC.

5 Comments

Dean StellDecember 10, 2013

It’s really not that uncommon in any professional workplace to see this situation. You can get one highly talented professional who also happens to have a tremendously powerful personality. They’re technically talented so their peers respect their work, but they suck all of the air out of the room with the force of their personality. When they are fired-up and positive, it is a tremendous weapon for an organization because they can lead the group in a way that no manager or boss can. But, my god….when they get pissy and sour, they crush the entire organization.

Keane was probably one of those types. You can make it work as an organization ONLY if you manage the organization for that individual’s happiness. If the individual is worth that limitation in organizational flexibility, then you can be almost unbeatable. But, if the individual hiccups at ALL in their talent, they become a tremendous burden to the group. And in football, since talent is always ephemeral, you will always have a mess when you have to unwind such a situation.

Dealing with situations like this is why coaches/managers are so popular as management training speakers for business organizations. It’s the same situations….just with suits and ties.

Sad to see Keane acting like this. When I read Fergie’s book, it was clear that Fergie actually backed Keane during his feud with Mick McCarthy and understood his outrage when Mick chose to make things public. SAF did the right things and even helped Keane by loaning couple of players to Sunderland when Keane was managing the club.

It’s easy to throw stones at Keane, but I think that this is just a matter of SAF meeting his match in a great player.
One could flip this around and make a valid point which is that SAF doesn’t like players who would take the shine away from him.

Keane is no match for Fergie.
Do you remember Keane intentionally injure Alf Inge Haaland and got himself sent off? he was selfish.
He ranted against the Prawn Sandwich Brigade, yet demanding fat contract. These fans paid for his salary.
Fergie’s biggest problem with Keane was when Keane started criticizing his teammates publicly. As a captain, you can’t do that.